Vehicular rack and pinion steering gears include an elongated flat gear or rack having gear teeth which mesh with mating gear teeth of a rotating pinion gear. The pinion gear is rotatably mounted on a steering shaft. As a steering angle is imparted to the steering shaft via rotation of a steering wheel, the pinion gear translates along the rack via engagement with the rack teeth. In turn, the rack translates in a corresponding steering direction. Tie rods, which are disposed at opposite distal ends of the rack, are connected to front road wheels of a vehicle via a corresponding steering arm. Therefore, steering systems using rack and pinion steering gears effectively convert rotational motion about a steering axis into axial motion of the rack while also providing a suitable level of gear reduction needed for steering a vehicle.
Steering functionality provided by typical rack and pinion steering gears may be electrically assisted in some designs. For instance, an electric steering motor may impart a variable steering torque overlay or torque assist along the steering axis, while in other designs the electric steering motor delivers torque assist directly to the rack via a drive mechanism. While manual and electrically assisted steering systems generally perform well, transient steering gear noise may manifest itself during steering direction reversal under certain driving conditions. Such noise, often referred to as steering gear reversal clunk, can impact steering quality and feel.